I Speed-tested Surfshark's New 'heavenly' Dausos Vpn Protocol - How It Compares To Wireguard

Surfshark and Kerry Wan/ZDNET

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Surfshark has launched a caller VPN protocol that promises amended information and barrier-breaking speeds.
• Instead of sharing a passageway pinch different personification traffic, Dausos provides each personification pinch their ain tunnel.
• Initial tests uncover promise, but it isn't rather there, yet, successful position of capacity compared to WireGuard. 

Surfshark has unveiled Dausos, a caller virtual backstage web (VPN) protocol designed to amended consumer-grade VPN speeds and security.

What is Dausos?

Named aft nan Lithuanian connection for eden and arsenic a motion to ascendence, Dausos is Surfshark's proprietary VPN protocol, which nan institution hopes will group it isolated from nan likes of WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 arsenic a purpose-built protocol designed for user VPN use.

Also: Best VPN services 2026: Expert tested and recommended

The institution says that while galore protocols utilized by VPN networks coming were not primitively designed for user usage -- and were alternatively simply adapted to beryllium fresh for intent -- Dausos has been specifically built for this task.

What makes it different?

According to Surfshark, Dausos uses AEGIS-256X2 alternatively of nan wide utilized AES-GCM, but nan cardinal quality is that it provides a separate, dedicated postulation passageway for each user. Normally, you would stock these tunnels pinch different VPN personification traffic, but by forging individual paths, nan dream is that Dausos creates a cleaner, much streamlined acquisition and reduces nan imaginable consequence of postulation contamination aliases exposure. 

In a Reddit thread, Karolis Kačiulis, Leading System Engineer astatine Surfshark, said:

"When users stock a tunnel, 1 user's postulation load tin interfere pinch another's, meaning your packets get handled slower because nan server is engaged processing different users' packets. With Dausos, each personification gets a dedicated tunnel, truthful that problem goes away."

Also: 10+ VPN tricks and tips I urge to everyone (whether for individual aliases business use)

Surfshark says this protocol whitethorn supply up to 30% faster speeds than different protocols, including WireGuard -- nan protocol Surfshark, on pinch astir different VPN providers -- uses by default. 

Furthermore, nan usage of AEGIS-256X2 encryption is simply a information betterment and whitethorn besides thief protect against early attacks arsenic a post-quantum solution. 

Backing Dausos claims

Introducing immoderate caller awesome encryption exertion aliases protocol ever carries risks, truthful to backmost up its claims, Surfshark engaged independent auditor Cure53 to behaviour an assessment. 

"With nary findings rated astatine Critical aliases High severity wrong nan existent Dausos protocol itself, nan audit results bespeak a unchangeable and resilient platform," nan assessment (.PDF) reads. "The Surfshark squad demonstrated a important committedness to information by remediating nan mostly of nan findings instantly pursuing nan testing phase."

This doesn't mean it has each been adjacent winds, however, arsenic upon launch, some testers found Dausos did not execute good pinch residential connections. Still, Surfshark quickly developed and deployed a fix, which appears to person resolved nan issue. 

Installation, testing, and last thoughts

At nan moment, Dausos is only disposable connected macOS, though Surfshark plans to rotation retired nan protocol to different platforms successful nan future. 

To effort retired nan caller protocol, guarantee your app is up to day pinch nan latest version. However, it won't look nether your VPN's protocol action tab if you person downloaded nan Surfshark app straight from nan VPN provider's website. Instead, spell to nan Apple App Store and download nan Dausos app, which is successful beta.

Charlie Osborne/ZDNET

I tested nan caller protocol against my first unprotected relationship and WireGuard, and recovered it worked good crossed nan committee for browsing nan Internet and streaming connected some Netflix and YouTube, truthful it seems nan first teething issues person been ironed out. 

Whenever you usage a VPN, you are introducing a middleman betwixt your instrumentality and an online service, and truthful you should expect a driblet successful speeds -- though erstwhile your first relationship is comparatively fast, you whitethorn not announcement nan difference. 

Also: Surfshark VPN review: One of our favourite fund VPNs pinch unlimited connections

I recovered that Surfshark pinch WireGuard enabled reduced download speeds by 35.54% and upload speeds by 6.30%. Compared pinch Dausos, download speeds decreased by 38.25% and upload speeds decreased by 4.88%.

Overall, WireGuard still performed amended for download speeds, whereas Dausos edged up successful upload velocity retention. (As relationship and biology factors each vary, see this only a snapshot of what you whitethorn expect -- arsenic your acquisition could beryllium wholly different.)

Bottom line

Dausos has potential, and fixed nan marginal capacity differences compared to WireGuard, I'd urge trying it out, particularly since we are apt to spot improvements arsenic nan beta protocol continues to beryllium refined. And if it entices you further, it's bully to cognize that it is free and disposable to each Surfshark subscribers.

Will it ever go unfastened root truthful nan VPN and information manufacture tin use arsenic a whole? When this mobility was posed to Kačiulis, he said that it is not imaginable during nan early motorboat shape -- but Surfshark "see[s] nan benefits of it and it's thing we're actively discussing."

"We'll support you updated arsenic we proceed to measure our open-source strategy," nan technologist added.